The Daily: Bitcoin rebounds after drop below $110,000, Trump Media eyes $6.4 billion CRO treasury, Bitwise files Chainlink ETF, and more

The Block

Aug 27, 2025 05:12:52

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The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday, and welcome to The Daily. Crypto markets are bouncing back slightly after bitcoin briefly fell below $110,000 earlier today. Ethereum ETFs posted $444 million in daily inflows on Monday — more than double that of bitcoin ETFs — as traders reposition into ether. Standard Chartered said ETH and ETH treasury firms remain “cheap," even as some analysts warn of further downside. Meanwhile, big treasury plays keep coming: Trump Media and Crypto.com are planning a $6.4 billion CRO token treasury deal, Pantera is reportedly raising $1.25 billion for a Solana treasury firm, and SharpLink added over 56,000 ETH, bringing its holdings to $3.6 billion. Also in motion: Bitwise wants to launch a spot Chainlink ETF, and Canary Capital has filed to list a Trump memecoin ETF. Let’s get started. P.S., I also write The Funding, a biweekly newsletter on crypto VC trends. The latest edition breaks down why raising a crypto VC fund is still tough — even in a bull market. Subscribe here.

Bitcoin bounces back after early drop below $110K

Bitcoin dropped under $110,000 for the first time on Tuesday since early July, erasing gains from last week’s Powell-fueled bounce and dragging the broader crypto market with it.

Analysts say the market has entered a risk-off phase amid macro uncertainty and profit-taking. BTC was trading around $109,317 as of Monday evening and has since recovered slightly. Ethereum plunged 7.4%, Solana fell nearly 10%, and XRP and BNB posted similar declines. Liquidations across derivatives markets topped $900 million, according to BTC Markets’ Rachael Lucas.

“The correction was driven by a mix of profit-taking, technical resistance, and shifting rate expectations," said Lucas. She pointed to a whale dumping 24,000 BTC (~$2.6B) as a trigger for cascading liquidations.

Sentiment also took a hit after President Trump said he had fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, adding to concerns about Fed independence. Meanwhile, analysts flagged key BTC support levels at $105K and $100K. “A clean break below $100K risks forced deleveraging,” said Rick Maeda of Presto Research.

Trump Media and Crypto.com plan $6.4B CRO token treasury firm

Trump Media & Technology Group, Crypto.com, and SPAC Yorkville Acquisition Corp. have announced plans to form a $6.4 billion treasury company focused on acquiring CRO, the native token of the Cronos blockchain.

The entity — Trump Media Group CRO Strategy — is expected to be funded by a mix of assets: $1 billion in CRO tokens (around 6.3 billion CRO, or 19% of total supply), $200 million in cash, $220 million in warrants, and a $5 billion equity line of credit from Yorkville affiliate YA II PN Ltd. However, most of the funding is contingent on future drawdowns from the credit line.

In parallel, Trump Media disclosed a separate CRO deal with company linked to Crypto.com that involved roughly 684 million CRO (valued at $105 million at announcement) being exchange for $50 million in cash and 2.8 million shares of Trump Media stock (ticker DJT).

DJT shares rose over 6% to $18.31, and CRO surged more than 25% in the past 24 hours, per The Block’s CRO price page.

Pantera Capital reportedly seeks $1.25 billion to build Solana treasury firm

Crypto VC Pantera Capital is aiming to raise up to $1.25 billion to convert a publicly listed company into a Solana-focused digital asset treasury vehicle, according to The Information.

The initiative, tentatively called Solana Co., would begin with a $500 million equity raise, followed by $750 million in warrants, potentially creating the largest corporate SOL treasury in existence. Public companies currently hold about 3.44 million SOL (~$650 million), according to The Block’s data dashboard.

The move comes as other major players also ramp up Solana treasury efforts. Bloomberg reported this week that Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital are jointly seeking $1 billion to establish their own Solana treasury firm.

Pantera recently also joined Sharps Technology’s $400 million private placement aimed at building a Solana treasury. In all, it has backed over $300 million worth of crypto DAT projects across a range of tokens, including BTC, ETH, BNB, TON, and SUI.

Standard Chartered says ETH and ETH treasury firms are undervalued

Ethereum and ETH-focused treasury companies are “cheap at today’s levels,” according to Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick.

He reiterated his $7,500 year-end ETH price target and said Ethereum treasury companies like SharpLink (SBET) and BitMine (BMNR) remain undervalued compared to Strategy (MSTR), especially considering their access to ETH’s 3% staking yield.

"Given that the ETH treasury companies are able to capture ETH’s 3% staking yield I see no reason for the NAV multiples to be below MSTR’s multiple (which captures no such staking yield)," Kendrick said.

The note builds on Kendrick’s previous argument that Ethereum DATs are more attractive than U.S. spot ETFs, which cannot stake or interact with onchain markets.

Bitwise files to launch a spot Chainlink ETF

Bitwise Asset Management has filed a preliminary S-1 with the SEC to list a spot Chainlink ETF, aiming to provide regulated exposure to LINK, the native token of the Chainlink oracle network.

The proposed Bitwise Chainlink ETF will track LINK’s spot price, with Coinbase Custody as custodian and Coinbase, Inc. acting as the prime execution agent.

The trust will support both cash and in-kind creation/redemption mechanics via a "Trust-Directed Trade" process, though it does not currently plan to stake LINK.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan had earlier flagged LINK as one of the “cleanest” assets in crypto, citing Chainlink’s core role in the tokenization narrative.

In the next 24 hours

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin is scheduled to speak — his remarks may offer hints on the U.S. central bank’s policy path.

Token unlocks are due for Fetch.ai (FET) and Jupiter (JUP).

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